" [Footnote:Mirabeau's own words.--See "Marie Antoinette
et sa Famille." Far M. de Lescure. p. 478.]
"Do you then believe the danger is so great," asked La Marck, "that
it is necessary to resort to extreme, heroic measures?"
Mirabeau grasped his arm with a sudden movement, and an expression
of solemn earnestness filled his lion-like face. "I am convinced of
it," he answered, "and I will add, the danger is so great, that if
we do not soon meet it and in heroic fashion, it will not be
possible to control it. There is no other security for the queen
than through the reestablishment of the royal authority. I believe
of her, that she does not desire life without her crown, and I am
certain that, in order to keep her life, she must before all things
preserve her crown. And I will help her and stand by her in it; and
for this end I must myself speak with her and have an audience."
[Footnote: Mirabeau's own words.--See Count de la Marck, "Mirabeau,"
vol. 21. p. 50.]
And Mirabeau, the first man in the revolution had his audience with
Marie Antoinette, the dying champion of monarchy.
On the 3rd of July, 1790, the meeting of the queen and Mirabeau took
place in the park of St. Cloud. Secrecy and silence surrounded them,
and extreme care had been taken to let no one suspect, excepting a
few intimate friends, what was taking place on this sequestered,
leaf-embowered grass-plat of St.
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